Glen Ellyn trustees favor moving police department to Panfish Park

January 21, 2014|By Quan Truong, Tribune reporter

Glen Ellyn officials are looking to possibly move the police department, and maybe the entire village office, out of the former school building on Duane Street and to a new location at Panfish Park. (Quan Truong, Chicago Tribune)

The Glen Ellyn Police Department may be moving to Panfish Park in the future, as village trustees on Monday said it was their preferable location after looking at several options to overhaul the civic center.

Since 2008, the police department has been advocating for improvements at the facility on Duane Street, which is a former school building that is shared with the rest of Glen Ellyn's government operations. Consultants have identified a number of problems with the building, including overcrowding, ventilation problems and "cross circulation" of police and public vehicles.

The plans presented by consultants have ranged from quick fixes costing around $200,000 to major renovations that involve splitting the police department off and into a new location.

Two sites were reviewed Monday, including Panfish Park and the Spring Avenue Recreation Center. The former is a little less expensive, estimated to cost about $17.5 million total, compared to the Spring Avenue option, which would run around $18.55 million.

There were also two other schemes that would leave the police station at the civic center, but add anywhere from $13.5 million to $16.4 million in upgrades and expansions to the building.

The board agreed that Panfish Park would be the best option, since it is property owned by the village, as opposed to the Spring Avenue Recreation Center, which is owned by the park district and would involve acquisition costs.

Trustee Tim O'Shea brought up the idea of moving the entire government center to a new location, a thought that was supported by Trustee Diane McGinley.

"I like the idea of possibly moving everybody," she said, noting that opening up a space on Duane Street could spur economic development.

"This could be a prime site."

Before approving anything, however, McGinley said, she requested to see a line-item breakdown of where the money would go.

Once the plan is better defined, the village will have to decide how to fund the move.

Village Manager Mark Franz said there could be about $10 million in the capital improvements fund available if other projects are deferred. He also mentioned the possibility of using dollars from downtown area's tax-increment financing district.

There was talk of looking for grant money. Also, moving to Panfish Park would leave room for the police department to have a gun range.

"We've looked at the range as one of the components at the police center as a profit possibility," said Police Chief Phil Norton. "We're talking about public use, not just to other police departments. We'd potentially have public training and public courses that would be a revenue center for us."

Village President Alex Demos said a referendum would be another option, but called it "not a palatable option to me."

The board ultimately decided to put together a committee to investigate the option further and present more details to the full board at a later meeting. The members included Trustee Tim O'Shea, Trustee Dean Clark, Police Chief Phil Norton, Village Manager Mark Franz and Assistant Village Manager Al Stonitsch.